Day 35

You would think that by this point, it would get easier-- the missing him--but it doesn't...there are numerable times each day when I want to call or text him something, and I can't.

Day 34

The nurse called today. It seems he's been having a lot of pain from his wisdom teeth, and she needed to get some forms completed to give him ibuprofen. That wasn't a big issue--but the wisdom teeth might be. The original plan was for him to have them out this summer--but that will be difficult under his current circumstances. She said it has been done occasionally, but they need to be at Level 3, so they can leave the facility...that could be 2-3 months away. Hopefully the pain will abate, and we can buy some time.

Day 33

I dreamed about him last night--the dream was about us seeing him on parent weekend...very much in tune with the reality of where he is now, rather than memories of the past, or hopes for the future. i guess i needed to see him so badly, that since we weren't allowed to see him on parent's weekend, my subconscious took me there.

Day 32

News from the therapist today was that he'd "stalled", and is too quick to get irritated by other kids. He said they felt that he needed to be able to let the small stuff go before being moved up to level 2. He's probably getting discouraged-- as patience is not his strong suit. I haven't had any luck getting books approved for him yet - the list I sent was deemed more appropriate for level 3. So back to the drawing board.

Day 31

Nice update on the webpage today. There's photo of him playing football, and a really nice one of him working on Algebra 2. (That probably says something about my geekness that I get all excited about seeing a picture of him working on Algebra 2.) His "letter home" on the site, said that he thought he'd be moving up to the next level soon- but didn't want to be overconfident. He also said that he's heard the new X-men movie was great, and would want it on DVD when he got home. News like that from the outside world must mean that a new resident has arrived.

Day 30

Back on Day 16 I mentioned that the school's director was impressed by a "haunting personal essay" he wrote about personal experiences with racism. I asked if I could see a copy, which was forwarded to me on the QT, as I guess these usually aren't shared. Well, I was perplexed when I read it, as it describes, in detail, his standing by not intervening as a classmate beat another in 6th grade, the white boy pounding the black boy's head against the wall during recess, and leaving him unconscious. My son went on to describe how horrible he felt about not trying to stop it. Pretty heavy stuff...but I'm almost 100% sure it never happened. So, is he conning them? Was this piece of creative writing just a way to avoid him actually recounting how he felt when he was stereotyped for his long hair and pierced lip? Or, could it be that the story merely used alter egos to project the feelings he had about being bullied in middle school? Since I'm not supposed to have seen it-- do I ignore it? Or do I mention it to his therapist in our Monday call?

Day 29

Well today is parent's weekend-- and we are not there. This has been tough for me, but is probably worse for him as he watches the other families show up. Now, I'm sure that not all of these family reunifications are sweetness and light..and we are not their for a reason. But still, it's tough.